tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38133096463612425472016-10-23T04:48:04.596-05:00Finely GroundJottings of an impoverished barista, freelance content writer, frugal foodie, and thrifty dabbler.Marissa Deennoreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-53950400028195954922016-04-14T22:00:00.001-05:002016-04-14T22:00:21.295-05:00Cucumber Grape Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_wAAx53LCp4/VxBUzRBxufI/AAAAAAAABKw/g1DQ7luBeIURxnvctBGJqPiMotT9neThQCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160414_161514_368.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_wAAx53LCp4/VxBUzRBxufI/AAAAAAAABKw/g1DQ7luBeIURxnvctBGJqPiMotT9neThQCLcB/s400/IMG_20160414_161514_368.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>We've been a little bit over the moon about this salad lately. Especially the vinaigrette. It was one of those things where you just throw something together to kind of complement your main dish and it ends up stealing the show!<br /><br /><br />The husband was doing steaks and we had popped a bottle of red wine....the idea of chopping red grapes into the salad struck me and we ran with it.<br /><br /><br />The best part is how <i>simple </i>it is. Honestly, five minutes and it's ready, and all the ingredients are things one is likely to have on hand or be easily able to use in other dishes.<br /><br /><br />Due to my haphazard way of measuring things, this is really easy to size up or down. ;)<br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Cucumber Grape Salad</span><br /><ul><li>One handful of greens per person (we used a bag of mixed romaine and radichio, I think.)</li><li>One sprig of green onions per person.</li><li>A generous handful or two of quartered red grapes.</li><li>A goodly amount of sliced and quartered cucumber.&nbsp;</li></ul>Toss the above into a serving bowl and drizzle with vinaigrette.<br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Red Wine Vinaigrette</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">A clove of garlic</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">1/2 c. vinegar</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">1/2 c. olive oil </span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">1/4 c. whatever wine you're serving with dinner, or a cooking wine will do</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">1/3 c. honey</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Salt and pepper to taste</span></span></li></ul><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Throw the clove of garlic into a blender with one of the liquid ingredients and blend till the garlic is finely chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend smooth adjusting to taste. You DO want to blend the garlic first with a smaller amount of liquid, otherwise it's liable to swim around the blender pitcher and totally miss the blades. Don't ask me how I know this.... You will end up with more vinaigrette than you need for just one salad -- but trust me, you won't mind using up the leftovers! It should keep pretty well for at least two-ish weeks; just shake well to reincorporate.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">The red grapes in the salad make this vinaigrette the perfect choice, and if you serve it alongside a beef dish your dinner will seem instantly gourmet. &nbsp;</span> </span>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-3869789451221104282016-02-25T16:27:00.000-06:002016-02-25T16:27:11.589-06:00Heart-Shaped Cookie -- No Cutter Required<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xWpv8bUpMlE/Vs9_hxA5fKI/AAAAAAAABKQ/m6NHn_BCF8c/s1600/heartcookie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xWpv8bUpMlE/Vs9_hxA5fKI/AAAAAAAABKQ/m6NHn_BCF8c/s400/heartcookie.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>I learned this neat little trick the other day while making peanut butter cookies. (My husband says<a href="http://www.heatherlikesfood.com/best-peanut-butter-cookies/" target="_blank"> this recipe</a> is addictive. I'm usually more of an oatmeal raisin person, but I have to grant that these are good.)<br /><br />I imagine you could make ANY cookie heart-shaped this way, as long as it's the type that you have to flatten slightly -- that is to say, the type that doesn't flatten into a puddle all by itself while baking.<br /><br />The trick is this: after flattening a ball of cookie dough with the palm of your hand (or bottom of a jar. Or whatever. You know,) just slice a small triangle out of one side and then pinch the opposite side into a point. You can kind of smooth out the "curves" of the heart with your finger, too, if you like.Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-67207558057516732662015-11-06T09:00:00.000-06:002015-11-09T15:13:14.240-06:00Easy Roasted Pumpkin SeedsLast week, I did something that's almost unheard of with my current schedule --<b> I turned on the oven.</b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jLxiujF0TCQ/VjPRbGs7EVI/AAAAAAAABJI/DT9bq6Wru3w/s1600/pumpkin%2Bseeds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jLxiujF0TCQ/VjPRbGs7EVI/AAAAAAAABJI/DT9bq6Wru3w/s400/pumpkin%2Bseeds.jpg" width="322" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Setting aside homework and wedding preparations I actually did something in the kitchen!<br /><br />These toasted pumpkin seeds turned out amazing. I wasn't planning on them, specifically, but when I carved a pumpkin the other day and the seeds basically just slid right out of the pulp I couldn't resist. I brined them on the counter in salt water for almost two days, tossed them in melted butter and onion powder, and then baked them for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, at 300 degrees. They turned out so crispy and delicious! Much less chewy than what you usually find at the store, and almost effort-free! I mean, if you're carving the pumpkin anyway.....<br /><br />But November's going to be a rough month. I probably won't be able to do anything fun again until after I graduate. Lame! (If you've been missing this blog, I've been updating fairly regularly at <a href="https://instagram.com/rissaleighs/" target="_blank">Instagram </a>lately. I hope to officially re-launch this blog post marriage and graduation.)<br /><br />Serendipitously, I was inspired that day by <a href="http://nuts.com/">Nuts.com</a>. You might want to watch their <a href="https://twitter.com/nuts" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, because they're going to be tweeting tons of healthy snacking ideas that are perfect for a busy holiday season.<br /><br />I had never heard of them before, but browsing their website I was super impressed! They seem to sell pretty much everything you could ever want. Have you been looking for organic dried dragon fruit? <a href="https://nuts.com/driedfruit/dragonfruit.html" target="_blank">Search no more</a>!<br /><br />But in all seriousness, they have SO many options that are perfect for gifting or <a href="https://nuts.com/healthy-snacks/quick-snacks" target="_blank">quick snacking</a>, ranging from conventional dried fruit and nut mixes to a truly vast variety of kosher, gluten-free, organic, and non-GMO offerings as well. <br /><br />The price point seems appropriate and comparable to what you would find in the grocery store&nbsp; -- with the difference that Nuts.com is committed to quality in their sourcing and transparency in their labeling, and you can find exactly what you want all in one place. It really looks like a one-stop-shop to me!<br /><br />Check out their <a href="https://nuts.com/healthy-snacks" target="_blank">Healthy Snacks</a> page for some inspiration!<br /><br />P.S. If you already threw out your pumpkin seeds this year and are feeling sad now that you can't roast them.....Guess what? Nuts.com sells <a href="https://nuts.com/snacks/pumpkinseeds/raw-inshell.html" target="_blank">raw pumpkin seeds</a>, too. ;) <br /><br /><br /><i>Disclaimer: No product or direct monetary compensation was received for this post. They MAY include it in their holiday Twitter party, but mainly I just shared this review because they look like a great family-owned company to support and their website made me really hungry. ;)</i><br /><br /><br />Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-39157322495833666642015-04-08T17:12:00.000-05:002015-04-08T17:12:47.241-05:0010 Ways to Spend Less on Clothes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WdAdLFDiEMI/VSWnDWATvuI/AAAAAAAABEk/hxWe7UqTkJQ/s1600/IMG_4126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WdAdLFDiEMI/VSWnDWATvuI/AAAAAAAABEk/hxWe7UqTkJQ/s1600/IMG_4126.JPG" height="397" width="400" /></a></div>I was updating my budgeting spreadsheet for the year and realized that I have spent $172 on clothes this year. It kind of freaked me out. I spent HOW much in three months?? Ugh! Time for a spending freeze! But then I took a step back and realized that, actually, I've done a pretty darn good job at spending wisely. That $172 brought home a whopping 24 items -- so I spent an average of just $7.17 per item! How is this possible?<br /><br /><h3>MY HISTORY IN NOT SPENDING MONEY ON CLOTHES. LIKE EVER.</h3><h3>&nbsp;</h3>In years past, I have had an extremist approach to clothes budgeting, purchasing new items only when they were a decent price (which in my mind is usually less than $10) and my wardrobe had a strong and specific need for a particular piece. If, on a whim, I decided I wanted an apple green cardigan to wear over a certain shirt, I would scour the internet and thrift stores for months and only buy once I had found the perfect one at the perfect price. If my jeans had trendy looking holes, they earned them through long lives of hard work, by golly! I wore clothes until they were no longer fit to be worn, pretty much. I'm sure certain of my acquaintances would argue that I still do. . .<br /><br />However, my spending habits have loosened up a little in the past year -- reason: for better or for worse, it's because I have this super awesome boyfriend who seems to enjoy the "classy and well-kept" look better than the "grunge/I don't care" look. Combine this new motivation to look "nice" with some very legitimate wardrobe needs (socks and underwear. You can only put them off so long,) and I have spent the last few months on some very specific searches. . .<br /><br /><h3>WANTED:</h3><h3>&nbsp;</h3>- A pair of summer sandals that looks nice but are also supportive and fit for a decent amount of walking.<br />- Pants! A couple pairs of jeans, at least another pair of casual shorts or capris, and another pair or two of workout shorts or capris.<br />- A blue shirt to pair with a certain white skirt.<br />- A maxi skirt, to scratch this itch I've had to jump on the maxi skirt trend.<br />- Swim cover ups<br />- Shirts in a greater variety of colors. Do you ever look in your closet and realize you have, like, fifteen purple sweaters and that's all? Because that's like the story of my life. For awhile all my shirts were blue, and now they're all purple. It's weird.<br />- A sports bra. A tricky proposition if you're as tricky a size as I am. <br />- Oh yeah, and socks and underwear. <br /><br /><h3>HOW TO DO A TOTAL WARDROBE REFRESH ON THE CHEAP</h3>Here are some of the principles I kept in mind as I searched.<br /><br /><ol><li><b>Know when to go for quality rather than price.</b> Shoes are turning into my non-negotiable here. Ten years of food service and retail has been tough on my knees, and supportive shoes are an absolute must.</li><li><b>Know when to go for new rather than used. </b>This can be pretty subjective, but things I prefer not to buy used are shoes, socks, and underwear, obviously, for the gross factor! I also steer away from used workout clothes and white shirts. I don't know about you, but my white shirts turn grey fast enough <i>without </i>a head start from anyone else's use.</li><li><b>Look for specific pieces in specific colors or styles.</b> Idle browsing can easily send you home with things you don't need that don't really pair well with anything else in your closet. Confession: I probably bought more shirts than I really needed to. I was browsing. It is true.</li><li><b>Have a price limit in your head for every type of clothing you're looking for. </b>Decide ahead of time what it's reasonable for you to spend on a shirt, or pants, or dress. Looking at tons of clothes at prices like $39.99 can be really desensitizing. You may begin to think to yourself that $24.99 is a good price for a tank-top, comparatively. . . .But then you can jerk yourself back to reality: "Dude, no. I was going to spend no more than $9 on a tank top. This one's almost three times that"</li><li><b>Shop used first.</b> Whenever reasonable, hit the thrift stores to fill holes in your wardrobe BEFORE browsing new items. If you can fill some holes with $5 used items, you'll end up spending MUCH less than if you had bought everything new&nbsp; even at cheaper locations like Target or TJ-Maxx.</li><li><b>However, for the items you WON'T buy used, shop the cheaper "new" stores first</b>, like Target, Walmart, or off-price retailers like TJ-Maxx and Ross. Off-price retailers are an especially good source for finding high quality items at reasonable prices (like shoes!!); you just have to be ready to sort through the junky stuff that's being offered at the same price.</li><li><b>Do your research</b>. If you're looking for a specific item, you can browse a ton of stores online in a fraction of the time it would take to browse their brick-and-mortar counterparts. This is a good way to compare prices and find exactly what you want with greater efficiency. To avoid shipping, you may be able to ship site-to-store for free. Or maybe the item's already available at your local store; most websites allow you to check individual store inventories for the availability of what you're looking at.</li><li><b>Consider reward points.</b> If you find you're going to purchase multiple items at a certain store, see if any of your credit cards offer bigger cash back for purchasing online. If you're a member of Swagbucks or another reward point, purchasing online through that platform may earn you extra reward points. If you were going to purchase the items anyway, and in a large enough quantity to score free shipping, you might as well maximize the cash back you can receive! I used my Discover card AND shopped through Swagbucks Shop &amp; Earn Platform when applicable. Now I have reward points to put towards future Amazon purchases of necessities....like textbooks. (Gak.)</li><li><b>Do not neglect the humble coupon code</b>. When purchasing online, always check to see if you can get 10% off by registering for promotional e-mails; always check other sites like <i>RetailMeNot </i>or <i>CouponChief </i>to see if there's other deals lurking out there that aren't readily apparent. At the very least, it's often possible to find a code for free shipping.</li><li><b>Have in mind the total amount you're willing or able to spend.</b> I kind of failed here -- I was thinking I'd try to cap my purchases around $100 not counting shoes, but I didn't keep very good track of what I was spending as I spent it, and thus, I overshot my limit somewhat. Even if you don't stick to your budget, chances are you'll STILL end up spending less just by having one in mind than by going out without one!</li></ol><h3><br /></h3><h3>WHAT I ENDED UP PROCURING:</h3><h3>&nbsp;</h3>- An amazing pair of Cliffs sandals for $24.99 at TJ-Maxx<br />- 2 pairs of jeans, including a pair of like-new Seven for All Mankind that was only $5.99 at Savers--score!<br />- A pair of khaki shorts and a pair of grey running shorts totaling about $10.<br />- Scored the blue shirt!<br />- After much deliberation, found an aqua colored maxi skirt. It was $25. :(<br />- Two swim cover-ups -- one, an iffy $5 one on Amazon shipping from China, and the other a neutral colored one from Walmart that was, I think, $14. . .<br />- LOTS of shirts in a pretty decent variety of styles from dressy to casual, including two new workout shirts and two basic white tanks/camis which were greatly needed. They all were less than $5 each at thrift stores with the exception of the two white tanks which were new from Target and about $12, I think.<br />- A sports bra for about $8 on clearance at TJ-Maxx. <br />- And yep, the socks and underwear, too.<br /><br />All in all, I have ended up with 24 new articles of clothing, averaging $7.17 per item. And if we take out the two most expensive (the shoes and skirt were each $25), the total of $122 spread over 22 items averages just $5.55 each. <br /><br />So yes, I spent more than I'm used to, and more than I intended. . . But on the whole, I am quite satisfied with all my purchases and their respective prices.<br /><br />The least satisfying purchase was the maxi skirt. I was hoping for one that could be worn with black OR brown sandals, was of a sturdy material, and a fun print. I ended up getting a solid colored aqua one which I chose for the reviews which said it was of a heavier material. It's really thin, though, and I might as well have gone with the $8 skirt with the bad reviews instead of this $25 with good ones.&nbsp; Lesson: embracing trends is often not as satisfying as you think it will be; if you really want to indulge, go for cheap.<br /><br /><h2>What are your best saving tips when it comes to fashion?</h2><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-48010482169408156182015-02-16T06:30:00.000-06:002015-02-16T15:20:46.301-06:00Starting a Blog Income Report and other news.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xs5JynzHPyk/VN0Wzig7rKI/AAAAAAAABD0/vflhQ2C8oDQ/s1600/office-pen-fountain.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xs5JynzHPyk/VN0Wzig7rKI/AAAAAAAABD0/vflhQ2C8oDQ/s1600/office-pen-fountain.png" height="400" width="255" /></a></div>It is my goal to get back into the blogging swing of things and bring you lots of great new content about frugal living, home-making, cleaning, and the works.<br /><br />But I'll be honest -- it's a struggle at the moment. As some of you may know, I'm currently working on a BBA in Accounting (getting some money-managing cred!) and I will graduate this December. HOWEVER, to graduate on time, I'm taking a pretty heavy course load. 18 credits this semester, 16 over the summer, and between 12-16 this fall (have to double check how many electives I have left.) And I'm still working 25 hours a week as your friendly neighborhood barista. <br /><br />(Yes, in order to bring this blog post to you I am procrastinating on something else. Heh.)<br /><br />In case you're curious, though, here's what I've got brewing (barista pun, get it?) for the future of Finely Ground....<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Upcoming Projects </span><br /><ul><li>I'd like to compile great DIY cleaning secrets into an e-book -- including some that have already been posted here and some extras! This may involve printables of some of the more popular content, like that <a href="http://www.finelyground.net/2012/03/one-day-challenge-spring-cleaning.html" target="_blank">Spring Cleaning Checklist</a>. </li><li>Actually, I've made a prototype printer friendly version of that one already, so hit me up if you want an advance copy!</li><li>Maybe a series on launching and monetizing a blog -- because at the moment mine's providing me with some mostly passive income, and who doesn't want passive income? What do you think? Something you'd be interesting in reading?</li><li>Cat Litter. So many choices. I'm currently running a trial of about 8 different brands of clumping (sift-able) litter, and soon I'll be able to give you all the dirt on what's the most budget-friendly, which wins odor control for small spaces, and which ones will end up tracked all over your house. Stay tuned! I only have about two weeks of trialing left.</li><li>I may need to discover the secrets of budget <strike>wedding </strike>event planning soon, too. ;) Shh!</li><li>But as for today.....Doing blog income reports is trendy right and I'm finding them so interesting to read. Just how DO regular people like you and me work their way up to earning $20,000/month off their blogs???! So I'm going to put a beginner's blogging spin on this idea, and show you what "starting small" looks like. And hopefully you'll be able to watch the income of this blog grow and learn from what works for me!</li></ul><span style="font-size: x-large;">Show Me Da Money! </span><br /><br />At the beginning of this year I got more serious about record-keeping. I made $579 on this blog last year -- yeah, small potatoes -- and I'd really like to see it grow. I'm taking a class in income tax accounting this semester, and it's helped and inspired me to be more organized about how I keep track of my freelance finances.<br /><br />I created a spreadsheet of t-accounts and journal entries, and as I'm a cash-basis tax payer, I'm going to record here my cash-basis blog earnings and expenses with a few summaries about traffic and the performance of key projects.<br /><br />Without further ado, here's what happened at Finely Ground during January 2015.<br /><br /><h3>Traffic Stats</h3><ul><li>34,525 page views </li><li>Social Sharing drove 44% of those page views, and Pinterest in particular was responsible for 75% of that traffic.</li><li>Most of the search terms that brought people to Finely Ground had to do with cleaning (not surprised!) but I noticed that my post on <a href="http://www.finelyground.net/2012/07/no-vision-insurance.html" target="_blank">getting glasses without vision insurance</a> is also&nbsp; commonly searched! Awesome! That means this information is helping people.</li><li>Weirdest search query: "Accidentally inhaled Ajax." Yikes, dude. I hope you're okay.</li></ul><h3>Events</h3><ul><li>The <a href="http://www.finelyground.net/2015/01/giveaway-200-lush-decor-gift-card-ends.html" target="_blank">Lush Decor Giveaway</a>! It was actually the first giveaway I've hosted here, and I wanted to make sure it went well. I was pretty satisfied with its performance. During the week it was live it received over 1000 views and at least 370 unique entrants.</li><li>Connected to this event, I did my first foray into paying for advertising. I ran a facebook ad which drove a lot of engagement and new "likes" (120!) to Finely Ground's page but not a ton of clickthrough, a pinterest promoted pin which received a lot of impressions but not a lot of click-through, and submitted to various free and paid giveaway directories -- the one that sent the most traffic to my site was <a href="http://www.giveawaypromote.com/" target="_blank">Giveaway Promote</a>, so I'm going to tuck that one away as a future resource.</li><li>In prep for the giveaway, I cleaned up the sidebar here a little, and added a new section for "recent posts" -- I used to just have one for "popular posts." I've found it challenging to direct traffic to my newer posts, though. The older established and popular ones tend to continue to receive more views than anything new I post, so I need to figure out how to improve engagement and get those readers of my old posts to stick around longer. </li></ul><h3>Revenue</h3><ul><li>&nbsp;$48.28 - Amazon Affiliate Program (the deposit of November's revenue.)</li></ul><h3>Expenses</h3><ul><li>$25.99 - Advertising Expenses</li></ul>Most blogger income reports have lists of different revenue and expense sources about a mile long. Clearly, I need to work on diversifying! <br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #93c47d;">Net Income: $22.29</span></span><br /><br />Woot woot! Don't spend it all in one place, self.<br /><br />Next month's report should be a little more interesting because some non-cash compensation will hit the books.<br /><br /><h3>Random tax fact -- did you know if you barter services or receive free product, you're supposed to recognize income for its fair value??</h3>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-14790170699142380482015-01-14T13:27:00.000-06:002015-01-14T20:35:02.624-06:00GIVEAWAY: $200 Lush Decor Gift Card!! ends 1/21<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JyBKFH10xEM/VLMCHFr69bI/AAAAAAAABCs/d4a5FSOwz3o/s1600/Lush-Decor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JyBKFH10xEM/VLMCHFr69bI/AAAAAAAABCs/d4a5FSOwz3o/s1600/Lush-Decor.jpg" height="400" width="288" /></a></div><br /><b>Have you heard of <a href="http://www.lushdecor.com/" target="_blank">Lush Decor</a>?</b> I hadn't, and was surprised to realize that I've seen their products before. You probably have, too, in stores like Bed, Bath and Beyond, Kohls, and Sears--however, their products are offered not only through other retailers, but through their own online store as well.<br /><b><br /></b><b>And how awesome is this: <a href="http://www.lushdecor.com/" target="_blank">Lush Decor</a> is going to give one of YOU, the readers of <a href="http://www.finelyground.net/" target="_blank">Finely Ground</a>, a $200 giftcard to their store!</b><br /><br />Daydream with me for a moment....What would you like to do with $200 at <a href="http://www.lushdecor.com/" target="_blank">Lush Decor</a>? Their offerings include bedding, shower curtains, window treatments. . .<br /><br /><br />Their styles range from opulent to whimsical, from simple and classic to feminine and fashion-forward.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Here are a few of my favorites:<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UjP16BPihzw/VLHnfSUQa1I/AAAAAAAABCE/zl4Vm-XTbGU/s1600/51tVy6sHarL._SS620_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UjP16BPihzw/VLHnfSUQa1I/AAAAAAAABCE/zl4Vm-XTbGU/s1600/51tVy6sHarL._SS620_.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lushdecor.com/Serena-3-piece-Comforter-Set/dp/B00NI24UVC?field_availability=-1&amp;field_browse=9635157011&amp;id=Serena+3+piece+Comforter+Set&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;refinementHistory=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ccolor_map%2Csize_name&amp;searchNodeID=9635157011&amp;searchPage=1&amp;searchRank=relevancerank&amp;searchSize=12" target="_blank">Serena 3 piece Comforter Set</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wKpuiQVwLCw/VLHnfXdmg4I/AAAAAAAABCM/b8I_ST4dVMo/s1600/51K--aMpnAL._SS620_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wKpuiQVwLCw/VLHnfXdmg4I/AAAAAAAABCM/b8I_ST4dVMo/s1600/51K--aMpnAL._SS620_.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lushdecor.com/Lush-Decor-Lattice-Throw/dp/B00Q523FAO?field_availability=-1&amp;field_browse=9635156011&amp;id=Lush+Decor+Lattice+Throw&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;refinementHistory=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ccolor_map%2Csize_name&amp;searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ccolor_map%2Csize_name&amp;searchNodeID=9635156011&amp;searchPage=2&amp;searchRank=relevancerank&amp;searchSize=12" target="_blank">Lattice Throw</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NLX6595q9uM/VLHnfQETR8I/AAAAAAAABCI/D7blrd_650Y/s1600/B00NI58I1C.01-A27TD5NISZ44N9._SX1205_SCRMZZZZZZZ_V371960146_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NLX6595q9uM/VLHnfQETR8I/AAAAAAAABCI/D7blrd_650Y/s1600/B00NI58I1C.01-A27TD5NISZ44N9._SX1205_SCRMZZZZZZZ_V371960146_.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lushdecor.com/Lush-Decor-Darla-Shower-Curtain/dp/B00NI2APES?field_availability=-1&amp;field_browse=9635161011&amp;id=Lush+Decor+Darla+Shower+Curtain&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;refinementHistory=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ccolor_map%2Csize_name&amp;searchNodeID=9635161011&amp;searchPage=1&amp;searchRank=relevancerank&amp;searchSize=12" target="_blank">Darla Shower Curtain</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZXPhHdYIvg0/VLHnf-lfA6I/AAAAAAAABCU/NBaVRGu9Td4/s1600/B00P80GLT6.01-A27TD5NISZ44N9._SX1205_SCRMZZZZZZZ_V371960146_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZXPhHdYIvg0/VLHnf-lfA6I/AAAAAAAABCU/NBaVRGu9Td4/s1600/B00P80GLT6.01-A27TD5NISZ44N9._SX1205_SCRMZZZZZZZ_V371960146_.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lushdecor.com/Lush-Decor-Crinkle-piece-Quilt/dp/B00NI234LE?field_availability=-1&amp;field_browse=9635156011&amp;id=Lush+Decor+Crinkle+piece+Quilt&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;refinementHistory=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ccolor_map%2Csize_name&amp;searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ccolor_map%2Csize_name&amp;searchNodeID=9635156011&amp;searchPage=2&amp;searchRank=relevancerank&amp;searchSize=12" target="_blank">Crinkle 3 piece Quilt</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So gorgeous! You want the gift card, right?? Gosh, me too! Here are the details:<br /><ol><li>This sweepstakes will be open until 11:59PM (eastern time!) on Wednesday, January 21st, 2015. A winner will be randomly picked using the entries made through the Rafflecopter widget below. A maximum of 5 entries per person may be obtained through the Rafflecopter widget.</li><li>Open to USA residents 18+ years old only.</li><li>No purchase necessary to enter or win, and purchasing anything from Lush Decor will not improve your odds of winning. The odds will depend on total number of entrants.</li><li>The prize will be ONE $200 giftcard code which must be used in a single transaction (no extra balance kept or change issued!)</li><li>The winner will be notified via e-mail on Thursday, January 22nd, 2015 and must respond within 48 hours or their prize will be forfeited and a new winner chosen (who also must respond within 48 hours of notification, etc.)</li><li>You MUST enter through the Rafflecopter widget included in the post. Comments on this post will NOT be counted as entries. :) </li></ol><br /><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="6317bac01" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/6317bac01/" id="rcwidget_njybn70o" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><script src="//widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script><br /><br /><br /><b>Good luck!</b><br /><br /><i>DISCLAIMER: The giftcard code was supplied without any cost to me, and I was compensated for this post with a free item from <a href="http://www.lushdecor.com/" target="_blank">Lush Decor</a>, however any opinions expressed are authentic and my own. </i>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com138tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-7883440795351883682014-12-19T22:33:00.003-06:002014-12-19T22:33:43.300-06:00Your Blog and Social Account Monetization -- Simplified!This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of <a href="http://izea.it/l1lSE" rel="nofollow">IZEA</a> for <a href="https://izea.com/" rel="nofollow">IZEA</a>. All opinions are 100% mine.<br /><br />Saving money is all well and good. . .But if you're going to save some money, you've got to make some first, right? I think a big part of frugal living is making the most of <b>all </b>your opportunities both to save and earn. If you have a blog or social media account, why not make it earn its keep?<br /><img alt="Izea-logo" class="iz-blog-image-im" src="https://exchange-production.s3.amazonaws.com/opportunities/598/blog_images/izea-logo.png" /><br /><br />One of the tools in my arsenal is IZEA. I think I started to hear buzz about it as I studied other lifestyle blogs and the ways in which their authors earned a little cash. I began working with IZEA's subsidiary (which is being closed, and all members transferred over to IZEA) Social Spark about a year ago, writing fun posts like <a href="http://www.finelyground.net/2013/01/sponsored-post-no-nonsense-tights-and.html" target="_blank">this</a> and participating in their advertising programs. Over the past year, though, they've greatly renovated their offerings and you can now monetize not only your blog (if you have one) but your twitter, facebook, or youtube accounts as well.<br /><br />It's a very user-friendly process, and once you register, you can start placing bids on earning-opportunities within hours.<br /><br />Take for instance this post:<br />1) I logged into my account to check out the latest companies seeking bids. Right now, for example, I've got five opportunities I could bid on if I wanted, ranging from blog posts for V8's new protein shake to StraightTalk Wireless' economical cell phone plans.<br />2) To place a bid on this sponsored post for IZEA, I simply clicked "place a bid," named a price within their stated range, and included a pitch of a sentence or two about why this post would do well on my blog.<br />3) Within a day or two I logged back in and found my bid had been approved! I could go ahead and write my content, submitting it to the advertiser for approval through IZEA's platform. (A bonus here is relative anonymity. The advertiser NEVER is hooked up with your personal e-mail address or pyament information.)<br /><br />Assuming all goes as planned, the advertiser will approve my post and it will show up at Finely Ground soon. (If you're reading this, hey! It worked!) Within another few weeks, my advertising fee will be posted to my account where I can withdraw it through paypal.<br /><br />A pro-tip for you:<br /><br />- On the free membership plan with IZEA, you get 3 bids per month.<br /><br />I've never found this restrictive, but I'm also extremely choosy about what I review or endorse on this blog. If you would like to bid on more opportunities per month (and chances are you'll get quite a lot of opportunities to choose from!) you can upgrade to their paid plan at $1 a month and unlimited bidding.<br /><br />I'll be honest: IZEA isn't my BIGGEST source of revenue on this blog. . . .But it was the first I delved into, and with its simple interface and implementation I think it's great for beginners--especially with the new social media integration. What could be simpler than linking up your twitter account and getting paid to tweet?<br /><br />And every little bit counts. At this time of year, especially, couldn't everybody use a little bit extra for gift-giving?<br /><br />So whether you're a blogger trying to get your feet wet in monetization, or a casual tweeter who wouldn't mind earning some extra dollars on the side, why not <a href="http://izea.it/l1lSF" rel="nofollow">sign up with IZEA</a>?<br /><br /><a href="http://izea.it/l1lSF" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Visit Sponsor's Site" border="0" src="http://izea.com/views/292465" style="border: none; width: auto !important;" /></a>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-1948496139635797572014-10-10T09:00:00.000-05:002014-10-10T09:00:00.359-05:0010 Ways to Save Money on Pets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mbyf_ZMGmvE/VDcH3wznj5I/AAAAAAAAA-o/7xCFbodPsI8/s1600/IMG_3771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mbyf_ZMGmvE/VDcH3wznj5I/AAAAAAAAA-o/7xCFbodPsI8/s1600/IMG_3771.JPG" height="400" width="257" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you're trying to save money, pets can seem like an unnecessary expense. . .But they're so cute and cuddly! Having something warm and furry to snuggle, being woken up at two in the morning by sandpapery kisses, having someone who's always happy to see you even when you're grumpy. . . Surely these things are worth a little expense, right?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I adopted Rogue (pictured) this summer after providing a foster home for him for a year for a local rescue society. (He just wasn't getting adopted in a timely fashion. I don't know why. Look at that face!) Initially, I hadn't planned on adopting a pet at this time because of my college expenses. But in the grand scheme of things, I have to admit his monthly maintenance isn't breaking the bank.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here are some things to consider when adopting a pet, and further, some tips to help the money-savvy pet owner save some dollars!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>It's obvious, but it merits repeating. <b>Consider your lifestyle and budget</b>. Animals come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and lifespans--and have a variety of needs! Fish? Cheap and unlikely to stick around longer than a couple years. Dogs, on the other hand, can be very expensive to maintain and require a lot of attention. I feel like cats are middle-of-the-roaders. They may live for twenty years, but they're pretty good at entertaining themselves. For weekends out of town, you may not even need a pet sitter. And for much of their lives, if they're healthy indoor cats, your primary expenses will only be cat litter and food.</li><li><b>Consider fostering</b> if you're not ready for the lifetime commitment that comes with pet ownership. Almost every town has a humane society--if you search for local animal shelters on the internet you may find a handful of other independent or more specialized ones as well. When fostering an animal, you provide love and home for it until it is adopted. The organization is responsible for vet expenses, and will often provide food and other equipment, too, if you need.&nbsp;</li><li>Even if your housing or financial situation doesn't allow for pets, you can still cash in on some furry love by <b>volunteering at a local shelter</b>. SOMEbody has to clean the kennels and play with their inmates. :)</li><li><b>Adopting adult animals</b> is usually a lot cheaper than adopting kittens or puppies. Frequently, they are already spayed or neutered;, Their personalities are already formed, too, so it's easier to judge how they'll fit into your family.</li></ul>Once you've taken the plunge....<br /><br /><ul><li><b>Many pet supplies can be found at thrift stores</b> -- fish bowls, hamster wheels, water bowls. Maybe even pet beds, although I would probably launder one before bringing it too far into my home. </li><li><b>Make your own pet toys.</b> Sad but true: Fluffy will probably think a wadded up piece of printer paper is WAY more exciting than the deluxe wind-up catnip-filled scurrying mouse toy you got him. Your old slipper may delight Fido more than the entire pet section of Walmart.</li><li><b>Coupon!</b> It seems like pet food is always on sale somewhere. If you coupon for nothing else, you could still save a bundle by doing it for pet food. Walmart has a printable coupon link towards the bottom of their webpage which I recently discovered, and it seems to provide a lot of the same coupons that newspaper inserts do. Additionally, if you watch for new products by your favorite brands, there are often high-value coupons associated with them--some even tucked into the products themselves for your next purchase.</li><li><b>Free Samples.</b> Signing up for free sample mailing lists can be the start of a lifetime of spam, it is true. However, I subscribe to <a href="http://www.sweetfreestuff.com/" target="_blank">Sweet Free Stuff</a> and they seem to e-mail fairly responsibly. I get two a day from them. And they almost always contain free pet food samples of one kind or another. I will note that cats are often said to have finicky stomachs and switching their food a lot can distress them. Personally, I have only had cats with seemingly iron stomachs. :) But even if you're worried about yours, you can use free samples to merely "stretch" your regular food a little farther by stirring them in to the usual.&nbsp; Plus, you might discover a great new product that your pet loves!</li><li><b>Another thing,</b> free samples usually come with high value coupons. Double win!</li><li>Finally, <b>keep your pet healthy</b>! Helping your pet maintain a healthy weight, and paying attention their hydration and nutrition will help them--and you!--out over the long haul. It's also a good idea to think realistically, up-front, about how you will approach end of life care. Sad but true: our furry friends won't live forever. If you think about this in advance, it may help later when, emotionally, you may want to treat and treat and treat your pet's medical problems past what is merciful both to their comfort and your finances.</li></ul><br /><h2>How do you save money on pet expenses? </h2><h2><br /></h2><h2><br /></h2></div>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-8178044157574870652014-09-08T23:10:00.001-05:002014-09-08T23:10:51.131-05:00How to Save Money on College Expenses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UIO6kRCrpeg/U_zrzDx3rgI/AAAAAAAAA9k/x0iKPw0EYtM/s1600/IMG_4004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UIO6kRCrpeg/U_zrzDx3rgI/AAAAAAAAA9k/x0iKPw0EYtM/s1600/IMG_4004.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div><b>Here are some tips for going back to school without going broke!</b><br /><br /><br /><ul><li><b>Don't use your college bookstore if you can help it. </b>In my experience, they all price-gouge like crazy. Whenever possible, I buy my textbooks through <a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Used-Textbooks-Books/b/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;node=465600&amp;tag=finegrou-20&amp;linkId=23JMFCLEJ7YNJNZZ" target="_blank">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=finegrou-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, usually at half the cost. Sometimes less, if there are loose-leaf versions available!<br /></li><li><b>Consider e-texts. </b>Something I've noticed since going back to school, is that with many classes migrating to online homework systems at the publisher's website, you may not even need to buy the textbook. If you purchase the online access code for the homework, you'll usually be able to access an online version of the textbook right there online. Even for classes that don't make use of the internet, many textbooks are available on Kindle now for a fraction of the cost.<br /></li><li><b>Speaking of Kindle</b>, what about just <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;docId=1000702481&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;pf_rd_i=465600&amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_p=1883088502&amp;pf_rd_r=11T2B7T45QPQWYC8V1F1&amp;pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-leftnav&amp;pf_rd_t=101&amp;tag=finegrou-20&amp;linkId=DWN2W4NW7P2OOG3L" target="_blank">renting your textbook</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=finegrou-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />? Often, you can rent hard copies of textbooks even in your campus bookstore, but I've been wary of this because of the possibility of being price-gouged for any damage or wear that occurs to the book. If you rent an e-book, they're risk free! (Don't have an e-reader? You can <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;docId=1000493771&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;tag=finegrou-20&amp;linkId=SUEDQJVMR56SLP4I" target="_blank">download one</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=finegrou-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> to read e-books from your desktop or laptop computer. Bingo!)<br /></li><li><b>Make money off your used textbooks</b>. Personally, I don't do e-books -- I just need something with actual paper pages that I can flip back and forth. During my first college experience in 2007-08, I sold my used books on half.com. . .It was kind of labor intensive, and I had to pay to ship them to people, and if my asking price was too high I got stuck with them. . .Well, Amazon has been my solution to THIS problem, too. (I'm sorry if you're an Amazon hater, but it really has been crucial to my frugal college-going endeavors.) Check out their <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trade-In/b/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;node=2242532011&amp;tag=finegrou-20&amp;linkId=K6WT5NBSUSU6FCYC" target="_blank">Trade-In Program</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=finegrou-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />! If you type in the ISBN for virtually any textbook you have, on the right-hand side of its Amazon listing you will see a trade-in quote right below the regular price/purchase buttons. If you elect to trade your books in for the quoted price, you will be able to print out a pre-paid shipping label, and Amazon will give you a virtual gift-card for the quoted trade-in amount after they have received your books and verified their condition. If you continue to purchase textbooks through Amazon -- hey, that's money towards next semester's books! Or maybe some Christmas shopping?</li></ul>Okay, I'm done tooting the Amazon horn for now, but remember -- even if your tuition bill is the one giving you nightmares, textbooks are still a big deal, too! This semester, I spent about $700 on textbooks -- but if I had bought them through my campus bookstore it would have been more like $1200. That's not just pocket change!<br /><br />Some other things to keep in mind. . .<br /><br /><ul><li><b>Fill out the scholarship applications</b>. Even if you don't think you're eligible for anything. Even if you don't feel like you have the time. Trust me, <i>nobody </i>feels like they have time to write scholarship essays. Know what that means? Most people don't. So if you do it, you automatically have an edge. -- And, hey, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. My college has a generic application that you fill out to apply to all of their university-wide scholarships. . . .I did that this semester, not expecting much -- but my efforts were rewarded with $1500 extra for this school year! And you know what? It only took me about twenty minutes. Twenty minutes for $1500 -- compare that to my $9.00/hr day job.<br /></li><li><b>If you CAN pay your tuition in full, go for it! </b>You'll save the interest payments on student loans, obviously. And even if your university offers a semester-long payment plan to stretch out the agony, those usually come with fees as well, so why not bite the bullet up front? If you're just a few hundred dollars short in cash on hand, would it make sense to put that amount on a credit card so you have a one-month reprieve to come up with the amount? <br /></li><li><b>Exercise caution with your credit, though.</b> Did you know if you regularly use more than about 20% of your available, it can take a toll on your credit score? It may be tempting to temporarily max out your cards, especially if you can justify it with cash back or points and know you can pay it off right away. . .But if your cards are often approaching their spending limits, you might want to think twice. </li></ul><br />Last but not least,<br /><br /><ul><li><b>Don't get so overwhelmed by the massive bills coming your way that you forget your regular budgeting!&nbsp; </b></li></ul>I made this last mistake. I've been back in school for a year now, and while I HAD been using <a href="https://www.mint.com/" target="_blank">Mint</a> for my personal budgeting, I let it fall by the wayside. Partly because it was having trouble communicating with the bank I switched to when I moved up here, and partly because having $3000 go out the window in one lump sum every semester really messes up your monthly budgeting. <br /><br />But I just got my Mint account back up to speed. Even if I don't feel like I can effectively "budget" when I'm showing a monthly deficit of thousands of dollars whenever tuition is due, it is at least INVALUABLE for tracking my spending and staying vigilant.<br /><br />Yes, this frugal blogger has had a year of sloppy spending. Don't let it happen to you!<br /><br />(If you're new to Mint, I wrote about it once before <a href="http://www.finelyground.net/2012/10/budgeting-for-dummies.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>. I'm thinking about writing another post on it, just because it's so awesome!)<br /><br /><br /><h3>Have you struggled with college student expenses? Share your stories here!</h3><ul></ul>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-61906538092828327362014-08-15T02:56:00.000-05:002014-08-15T02:56:44.062-05:00Liebster AwardJocelyn at <a href="http://lilgeorgiapeach.blogspot.com/2014/08/liebster-award-again.html" target="_blank">A Lil ol' Georgia Peach</a> nominated me for a Liebster Award. :) How cool is that? Thanks so much!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O0GC7nOjdxs/U-2l_jMnBVI/AAAAAAAAA9M/HE3QbR1Atq0/s1600/liebster-award.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O0GC7nOjdxs/U-2l_jMnBVI/AAAAAAAAA9M/HE3QbR1Atq0/s1600/liebster-award.gif" height="222" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are the rules:&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />1. Post eleven facts about yourself</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Answer the eleven questions provided by the person who nominated you, and then create an eleven-question set for the next group of nominees</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Choose eleven people to nominate and link them in the post</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Let your nominees know they've been tagged- and no tag-backs!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5. Nominate blogs under 200 followers (the goal is to promote small blogs )</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I've got to say, figuring out which blogs to nominate has been a blast. I'm going to post them FIRST just in case you get bored reading my blather and don't want to scroll all the way to the bottom for them. These bloggers are a diverse crew who aren't to be missed!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1. <a href="http://www.misscathie.com/" target="_blank">Miss Cathie&nbsp; by Cathie</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <a href="http://beautifulsong.com/" target="_blank">Beautiful Song by Chantel</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3. <a href="http://ratherwhimsical.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Girl Who Waits by Abigail</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4. <a href="http://be-it-ever-so-humble.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Be it Ever So Humble by Dianna</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5. <a href="http://only-annegirl.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Life Is Beautiful by Laura</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6. <a href="http://www.oliviacleansgreen.com/" target="_blank">Olivia Cleans Green by Olivia</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7. <a href="http://www.justmeandmyrunningshoes.com/" target="_blank">Just Me and My Runny Shoes by Karen</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">8. <a href="http://fernwehfever.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Stowaways Welcome by Olivia</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">9. <a href="http://forestidyls.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">A Walk in the Forest by Jacinta</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">10. <a href="http://keepinperfectpeace.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">In Perfect Peace by Catherine</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">11. <a href="http://www.thebarefootseamstress.com/" target="_blank">The Barefoot Seamstress by Becky</a></span></div><br />Okay, for my eleven facts.....<br /><br />1. "So where are you from?" A common conversation starter but it sends me into a kind of existential crisis. I stare blankly and say, "Um. . .Nowhere?" which catches people off guard so I stumble forth with something like, "Well, my family moved around a lot so I guess I'm not really from anywhere.". But if I WERE to answer it, it would sound like, "Well, my parents' roots are in Minnesota, but I was born in Ohio. I haven't seen the state since my first birthday, though, but I lived the longest in Wisconsin? I graduated high school in Washington. . .The place I loved the most, though, and would <i>wish </i>I were from is Colorado. . ."<br />2. My favorite color is green. But I wear more blues and purples.<br />3. Better Homes and Gardens magazine is my guilty pleasure. I got hooked a couple years back on a free year's subscription offer, and have been feeding my addiction with cheap renewal deals ever since.<br />4. I've been a barista since 2009....<br />5. And yes, I can do latte art on my good days. :)<br />6. That may be the coolest thing about me, actually.<br />7. I'm horribly trend apathetic. And waiting for skinny jeans to go out of style because I really don't want to buy any.<br />8. Though I've moved 13 times and lived in 9 different states, the furthest south I've ever been is Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (Disney World doesn't really count as part of the south, right?) But next week I'm going to remedy that by vacationing in southern Mississippi. :)<br />9. A region of the United States I'd really like to visit someday is the Southwest. <br />10. I hate squash. The smell, the texture, the taste.....Nauseating.<br />11. I am totally in love with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0072EXF8G/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B0072EXF8G&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=finegrou-20&amp;linkId=ZQ7F5FEAMTUW6F6C">Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Rhubarb hand soap</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=finegrou-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B0072EXF8G" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. (Yes, that's an affiliate link. Shameless.) It is beyond amazing. They need to make more rhubarb scented products because I would totally buy them all.<br /><br />And here are Jocelyn's questions....<br /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">1. What's the first childhood memory that comes to mind right now? <i>Because it's summer and it's hot, I'm remembering running through lawn sprinklers as a kid in Wisconsin.</i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">2. How many countries have you been to? Which is your favorite? <i>Just this one. Sigh. I was saving up my tips as a "travel fund" for an England trip, but ended up having to put it towards textbooks instead.... </i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">3. If you could be any age for the rest of your life, what would it be? <i>Well, right now I'm 25, and I'm feeling like it's pretty much the best age I've been yet. :)</i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">4. What's your favorite season? <i>Autumn. For blazing leaves and crisp, cool winds and woodsmoke on the breeze.</i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">5. Sweet or savory? <i>Savory, hands down.</i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">6. When you have free time, what do you do? <i>I love to read! Especially fat English or Russian novels. But my free time has been so limited and those require such commitment that lately, more realistically, my free time has been spent on Pinterest. Sad. I need to get a life. Oh, when I have free time I also catch up on things like vacuuming my carpet and scrubbing my shower. Truefax!</i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">7. What is your ideal mode of expression? <i>Writing. It is both therapeutic and clarifying. And I'm so much better at it than talking.</i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">8. What's your favorite thing to cook/bake? <i>Hmmmmm. I'm going to be weird here and say baked spinach. Because I have this really tasty recipe for it.</i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">9. Who is your favorite author? <i>This is an impossible question....I used to have stronger feelings where I could eke out an answer....Hmm. Possibly Charles Dickens. Or Tolstoy. With a side of Willa Cather?</i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">10. If you've got some extra cash what do you buy first: clothes, jewelry, crafting supplies, or dessert? <i>None of the above? Most of my "extra cash" purchases seem to fall into the categories of books, plane tickets, and health/beauty products. Occasionally clothes, but only if I'm looking to fill a specific gap in my wardrobe--I don't clothes shop for "fun"....Oh, and cat toys. I buy cat toys.</i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">11. What's your favorite flower? <i>Lilacs have to top the list. But lily of the valley, orchids, tulips, ranunculus, irises, and sometimes peonies are also contenders. Does Russian Sage count? I love Russian Sage. :) What can I say, I LOVE flowers.</i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">Finally, 11 questions for my nominees:</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">1. Is your blog more professional or personal? If personal, how do you keep motivated? If professional, what are your favorite tools, resources, and tips?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">2. Describe a particularly vivid place or scene that means/meant a great deal to you.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">3. What tunes have you been jamming to lately?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">4. Where is one specific place you would like to travel to and why? (Not a country or town, but a specific site or attraction.)</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">5. Name a book near the top of your to-read pile.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">6. What is one thing that you're really proud of yourself for?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">7. If dreams came true, what would your life look like ten years from now?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">8. What are your favorite beauty products?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">9. What is a personality trait you admire and wish you had more of?&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">10. What are five things you excel at?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">11. If you could be anywhere doing anything today, where/what would that be?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;">Okay everyone, share the bloggy love! :)</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; line-height: 20.020000457763672px; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-80471027346697510682013-04-14T22:37:00.000-05:002014-07-09T13:13:02.500-05:00A Lesson in Frugal Eating<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WQgYh7lcKxM/UWtw_R-yhqI/AAAAAAAAA24/UpWYuT1C52U/s1600/IMG_3539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WQgYh7lcKxM/UWtw_R-yhqI/AAAAAAAAA24/UpWYuT1C52U/s320/IMG_3539.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a>A large, echoing void. A vacant chasm. A strangely luminous abyss. . . .This is my refrigerator today. Can you relate?<br /><br />It seems like I encounter this image about once a week, usually at 7:30PM right in the middle of four or five exhausting workdays.<br /><br />Now, normally this results in a dreary errand out for frozen pizza and microwaveable soup. But today I was already in my pajamas. <i>And my feet hurt, I'm tellin' ya!</i><br /><br />So I decided I was going to come up with <i>some </i>sort of breakfast and lunch for tomorrow out of the available resources or die trying.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">What do we have to work with?</span><br /><br /><br /><ul><li>8 oz cream cheese</li><li>a tub of Country Crock spread</li><li>a colander of thawing strawberries</li><li>5 eggs</li><li>some almond milk</li><li>a Brita water pitcher</li><li>a heckuva lot of lemon juice</li><li>and 2 random jars of half-used spaghetti sauce.</li></ul>Never mind what's in the door; it's just a bunch of condiments and a couple sticks of butter.<br /><br />Normally, I don't make it past the depressing refrigerator inventory. I give up, give in, cry uncle, and buy pizza.<br /><br />This time, I gave the freezer a more searching look. &nbsp;The most prominent features are a couple bags of pecans, a cup or two of Quaker oats, a frozen banana, too much ice cream, and some wheat berries that I can't find a use for.<br /><i><br /></i><i>Hmmm. You can't bring an ice cream sundae to work for lunch, folks.&nbsp;</i><br /><br />But behind it all, I found one leftover cod filet, some slightly freezer burnt broccoli, and exactly 3/4 of a cup of uncooked wild rice.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">*A Fanfare of Trumpets*</span><br /><br />Lunch! By George, I think we've got it!<br /><br />Breakfast was even easier to figure out. A fried egg, and some oatmeal spruced up with strawberries. Boom!<br /><br />So out of the seeming nothingness of my leftover groceries, I have found meals. Not only meals, but <i>healthy </i>meals.<br /><br />Healthier meals than if I had gone to the grocery store in a fit of laziness and desperation and bought pizza and microwaveable soup, in fact.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Moral of the Story</span><br /><br />When you're looking in your fridge, groaning, "Awww, there's nothing to eat!!" . . .<br /><br />Square your shoulders, look again, think outside of the box, and don't go out and buy "instant," over-processed, <i>easy </i>food.<br /><br />Because you probably don't have to.<br /><br />And hey, by using up your odds and ends instead of making an extra trip out, you've probably saved an extra $10 on your monthly grocery budget!<br /><br /><br />Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-5921470499573264512013-04-06T13:55:00.000-05:002013-04-06T13:55:00.682-05:00Saturday Things....<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T9dVf0_qJCM/UWBk0oIoejI/AAAAAAAAA2o/tS8k07pSUVw/s1600/5-10-2005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T9dVf0_qJCM/UWBk0oIoejI/AAAAAAAAA2o/tS8k07pSUVw/s320/5-10-2005.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Poog, circa 2005.</td></tr></tbody></table>If I was a good blogger, I would come to you today with mason jar crafts and wreaths made out of baby ducklings.<br /><br />Um. All I have for you is a picture of a cat looking at a piano. Here ya go.<br /><br />. . .<br /><br />I am very tempted to launch into a lengthy excuse/rant/whine, but it would involve heavy objects, backaches, fatigue, chaos, and be of no interest to anyone.<br /><br />So before I go to work in half an hour (Yes! SO excited!) (Not.) here's just a few whatnots from my latelys.<br /><br /><br /><ul><li>On the moving front, I've cancelled my newspaper subscription. One item off the mile-long to-do list, anyway. Do not despise small beginnings, people.</li><li>Also been cleaning out the freezer. So far, this has resulted in an increased consumption of broccoli, and the making of this really awesome&nbsp;<a href="http://www.getoffyourbuttandbake.com/2009/07/raspberry-peach-cobbler.html" target="_blank">peach raspberry cobbler.</a>&nbsp;</li><li>I have a TON of frozen strawberries. Still trying to figure out how to use them all up--Here's some <a href="http://pinterest.com/msobaskie/101-uses-for-frozen-strawberries/" target="_blank">strawberryful recipe inspiration!</a></li><li>Loving these two blogs at the moment.....<a href="http://www.fennelandfern.co.uk/" target="_blank">Fennel and Fern</a> (pretty pictures!) and <a href="http://wilderquarterly.com/blog/" target="_blank">Wilder Quarterly</a> (always green, often fascinating.)</li><li>I listened to Josh Ritter obsessively when I was in college. Rediscovered my <i>Animal Years</i> <span id="goog_1171519777"></span><span id="goog_1171519778"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a>CD.....&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDjwqDHA9sc" target="_blank">I loved this song</a>. It still rather speaks to me. (I can't resist the allusion to <i>Huckleberry Finn</i> in the last stanza. It gets my inner geek every time.)</li><li>I went to the library for a book of Theodore Roosevelt's writing the other day--I had seen a quote from his speech/essay "Strenuous Living" and wanted to read its context--and, predictably, came out with not one book, but five.&nbsp;</li><li>As if I have time to read. Ha.</li><li>Someday, I will probably write a post about how <a href="http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/start-now.asp" target="_blank">SparkPeople's food tracker</a> revolutionized my eating habits and magnesium turned my life around. Yay for vitamins and minerals!</li><li>But not today.</li><li>In case you were wondering about that compelling Theodore Roosevelt quote:&nbsp;“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. <b>The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.</b> So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” Yeah! Go get 'em, tiger.</li><li>The end.</li></ul><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;">So, what's your favorite recipe to use up frozen strawberries?</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-60100213401981955362013-03-21T13:40:00.000-05:002013-03-21T13:40:13.773-05:00Preparing to Move: The First Steps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GHUIzQg5R9s/UUtMcklKW8I/AAAAAAAAA2U/58BlOj2jg8s/s1600/IMG_3462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GHUIzQg5R9s/UUtMcklKW8I/AAAAAAAAA2U/58BlOj2jg8s/s400/IMG_3462.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Re-locating. Chances are you've done this a few times. . .<br /><div><br /></div><div>Cardboard. Tape. Chaos.</div><div><br /></div><div>What a pain.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>To the left, there, you see my to-do list. The middle two columns are all related to my upcoming move. Um. . .yeah. It's officially taking over my life.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's still two months out, but it's not too early to get started.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Here are some tips . . .</span></div><div><br /></div><div>I've learned from experience that you can focus on some things way ahead of time to simplify the process later on.</div><div><br /></div><div><ol><li><b>Empty the pantry.</b> Food is a bother to transport even if you're just moving a couple blocks. Try to eat as much of what's in your freezer, fridge, and cupboards as you can, and quit stocking up on extras!</li><li><b>Declutter</b>. You know that stack of magazines? Junk mail? Random stuff in your closet? Under the bathroom sink? If it's not important enough to justify the work of packing, hauling, and unpacking. . .Pitch it.</li><li><b>Downsize</b>. There's no time like the present! Break out your inner minimalist. Think about articles of furniture that you could sell on craigslist to off-set the cost of the move. . .Clothes you could donate to thrift stores. . .Books you could donate to your local used bookstore. . .</li><li><b>Start collecting boxes and packing materials.</b> If you subscribe to a newspaper, don't throw any of it away or cancel it until you have enough to wrap all your fragile items. If you get a package in the mail, save the box and bubble wrap!</li><li><b>Pack what you can when you can</b>. Chances are, there are things you can start packing ahead of time that you won't miss. Out of season clothes. . .The contents of bookshelves and closets. . .</li><li><b>Make a list and tape it somewhere in-your-face.</b> Your mind is probably swimming. (Sinking?) <i>So much to do</i>. Get it all on paper and add to it as things occur to you so you don't forget anything!</li><li><b>Re-read your lease and inspection paperwork.</b> If you rent, make sure you know how much advance notice of your intent to vacate your landlord requires. See who's responsible for shampooing the carpet. &nbsp;And if your landlord went over the condition and cleanliness of your apartment with you when you moved in, find that paperwork again to help you leave things in the same or better condition.</li><li><b>Those crazy drip-pans on your stove covered in burnt-on gunk?</b> Buy new ones and install them the day you leave. Seriously. They never look decent again once stained.</li><li><b>Make a list of all the places you'll need to change your address, and all the bills and utilities you'll need to cancel.</b> I find this is easiest to do if you simply make a list of all your incoming mail for a month as it arrives.&nbsp;</li><li><b>Eat ice cream. </b>Hey. You can't take it with you.</li></ol><div><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">How do you prepare to move?</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-72219403584373560502013-03-17T17:39:00.000-05:002013-03-17T17:39:02.891-05:00Google Reader and so forthHey guys,<br /><br />Just a little administrative note. If you use google reader, you've probably heard that it's going to be deep-sixed! As a creature of habit, I find this extremely irritating. . .But I've switched to <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/" target="_blank">Bloglovin</a>, and am slowly adapting. :) It's not too bad, really, and it's easy to import your entire google reader subscription list over with just a few clicks.<br /><br />&nbsp;If you'd like, you can follow this blog on Bloglovin by clicking this button.....<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/en/blog/3459762" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Follow Finely Ground on Bloglovin"><img alt="Follow on Bloglovin" border="0" src="http://www.bloglovin.com/widget/bilder/en/widget.gif?id=3459762" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, would you hate me if I change commenting on this blog to not allow anonymous comments? Seriously considering it. Comment spam is getting harder and harder to keep up with......In fact, one spam comment just arrived at my e-mail inbox during the two minutes it's taken me to write this.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Anyway, sorry for the lack of updates! Right now, I'm just trying not to be chewed up and spat out by my retail job, and trying to get my act together to move. . .Listing my piano on craigslist. . .Doing some <a href="http://www.finelyground.net/2012/03/one-day-challenge-spring-cleaning.html" target="_blank">spring cleaning</a>. . .</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-48996131589743946132013-03-08T19:49:00.002-06:002013-03-08T19:49:28.762-06:00Cheap Thrills 01<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4odXrEY0n_c/UTqFRNC5wiI/AAAAAAAAA10/zEb7y-VAP9o/s1600/IMG_3451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4odXrEY0n_c/UTqFRNC5wiI/AAAAAAAAA10/zEb7y-VAP9o/s320/IMG_3451.JPG" width="222" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't let this picture fool you.<br />This post has nothing to do with yarn.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Okay, for the sake of updating my blog with something, <i>anything</i>. . .here's a post of some cheap or free things I've appreciated lately.<br /><br /><br />As you might remember, my primary source of income went kaput (no more latte slinging over here :(....) and I'm saving up for a cross-state move.<br /><br /><br />So if I'm going to have any fun over here, it better be cheap!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Cheap Thrills!</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><br /><ul><li>The <a href="http://www.oed.com/" target="_blank">OED's</a> Word of the Day. You can sign up to have it e-mailed to you. Today's was "<a href="http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/346263" target="_blank">achoo</a>" -- If I were rich and extravagant, I would pay the $295 annual fee to have total online access to the dictionary. But I'm not, so I just revel in the linguistic luxury of a free word-a-day.<br /></li><li><a href="http://fccrsnc.org/" target="_blank">Volunteering at a local cat shelter</a>. I started in January. . .I always kind of wanted to, but the <a href="http://www.finelyground.net/2012/12/the-life-of-poog.html" target="_blank">death of my family's elderly cat </a>in December spurred me into it. I've never rented with a lease that allowed pets, so I've been cat-less for too long! Volunteering at the shelter is truly the highlight of my week. (Not sure what this says about me...Crazy Old Cat Lady?)<br /></li><li>Rediscovering my french press and drinking decaf coffee at any hour of the day or night. Working at a coffee shop four days a week, I didn't make coffee at home very often. Now that we're closed, though, it's a totally different story. I really only drink a cup at a time--not a whole pot!--so french pressing eliminates waste.<br /></li><li><a href="http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=italy" target="_blank">Italy</a>. I've been on this random Italy kick lately. It's pretty. Let's go. (Hey! Daydreams are free!)<br /></li><li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31250.Little_Dorrit" target="_blank">Little Dorrit</a>. This book is like biting into a big, juicy peach. It seems much more tightly written than what I usually would expect from Dickens, and much less&nbsp;farcical. (I just finished <i>Nicholas Nickleby</i>, though, so the contrast between his earlier and later works is especially apparent!)<br /></li><li><a href="https://apps.facebook.com/janeaustengame/" target="_blank">Jane Austen Unbound </a>on Facebook. Okay, okay, okay, stop throwing things at me. I <i>know </i>I railed against the <a href="http://www.finelyground.net/2012/06/are-you-wasting-your-time.html" target="_blank">evil time waster-iness of computer games</a>. Actually, I've gotten sucked into a few of them since that post. (Thanks Mom.) But it's Jane Austen, so it doesn't count. Right? Right? Okay, I'm not fooling anybody. Obviously this is a case of do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do.<br /></li><li><a href="http://drteals.com/products.aspx" target="_blank">Soaking in the tub</a>. With epsom salt! Ugh. Lately I've been one big living, breathing Ache. Walking around on concrete for eight hours at a time, lugging around 40lb boxes of whatever will do that to a person. But I picked up this huge bag of Dr. Teal's epsom salts at Walmart, and it seems to help. This isn't a particular advertisement for Dr. Teal's or anything, it just happened to be the cheapest and/or only brand I saw.</li></ul><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">What have been your latest frugal delights?</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-91430259359184785952013-02-23T18:01:00.002-06:002013-02-23T18:02:00.293-06:00Dry Winter Skin vs. Frugal Girl<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JkGAashAV-M/USlSMLnNnUI/AAAAAAAAA1U/AJLT1I1C8SE/s1600/IMG_3446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JkGAashAV-M/USlSMLnNnUI/AAAAAAAAA1U/AJLT1I1C8SE/s320/IMG_3446.JPG" width="251" /></a>You know that feeling when it's about 15 degrees, and you walk outside, and the skin on your unprotected face starts dehydrating and cracking like<a href="http://roblang.photoshelter.com/image/I0000C8sFZg.wylM" target="_blank"> this picture of dirt</a> within seconds?<br /><br />Yeah. It seems to me that this winter has been exceptionally dry.<br /><br />My hands have been requiring constant maintenance. True, they are in and out of dishwater repeatedly over the course of my workdays....<br /><br />Even if your circumstances aren't that extreme, if you suffer from dry skin in the winter these frugal tips might help:<br /><br /><br /><br /><ol><li><strong>Drink lots of water.</strong> Ultimate frugal hydration tip--this will help moisturize you from the inside out. Consider avoiding diuretics like caffeine.</li><li><strong>Wear Protective Gear outside.</strong> You know, like mittens. Even if you're just going to the mailbox and back--if your hands are dry and your climate is dry, this little,&nbsp;simple thing will honestly make a difference.</li><li><strong>Build lotion into your schedule.</strong> No skimping. Moisturize at least morning and night, and especially after a hot, steamy shower. If you are in and out of dishwater all day, like me, you will also want to moisturize your hands once or twice during the day. Unfortunately, lotions and potions are expensive. Make sure they are on your Christmas and birthday wishlists.</li><li><strong>Lean towards natural products</strong>. It seems to me that a lot of moisturizers out there go for quick but fleeting results. . ."Instant relief" that lasts all of ten minutes. This phenomenon is not surprising when you take a look at all the crazy chemicals on the ingredients list.</li><li><b>Humidify your house.</b> Especially if you have forced air heating, you may notice your home is drier in the winter months. A humidifier in the bedroom could provide some relief! Or for a cheaper fix, keep a tea kettle steaming on your stove top --just don't let it boil dry!</li></ol>For general moisturization, I use straight coconut oil. It makes a great intensive lip balm, too!&nbsp;A little goes a loooooooong way. I bought a $7 jar over a year ago, used half of it in batches of homemade deoderant, and the remainder is still going strong. If you get unrefined, it smells pleasantly coconutty.&nbsp;. .<br /><br />For hands, <a href="http://www.neutrogena.com/product/fast+absorbing+hand+cream.do?sortby=ourPicks" target="_blank">this lotion</a> has worked the best for me, even though it isn't natural. Don't know why it works so well! At least the <a href="http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/245137/Neutrogena_Norwegian_Formula_Hand_Cream%2C_Fragrance_Free/" target="_blank">EWG </a>only rates it a 3 on their hazard scale.<br /><br />I love<a href="https://www.burtsbees.com/other/burt-s-outlet/miracle-salve.html" target="_blank"> this salve</a> by Burt's Bees for during the day. The metal container and screw-on lid allows me to throw it in my purse and let it rattle around in there without worrying about leaks.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">How do you fight dry winter skin?</span><br /><br /><br />*disclaimer: this is not a sponsored post and I don't earn a commission if you buy these products. :) I just happen to like them.<br /><br /><br /><br /><ol> </ol><br />Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-12275470197151325342013-02-19T21:30:00.003-06:002013-02-21T18:14:57.777-06:00Refrigerator Oatmeal: The Mega Breakfast<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7LtGBJOeZgE/USRCsA94vYI/AAAAAAAAA00/_GT0hQd9XxA/s1600/DSCN9090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7LtGBJOeZgE/USRCsA94vYI/AAAAAAAAA00/_GT0hQd9XxA/s320/DSCN9090.JPG" width="239" /></a>Grab-And-Go breakfasts are a very good thing. . .whether you're a barista that's out the door at 5AM or not!<br /><br />Something I've been loving lately is refrigerator oatmeal.<br /><br />No heat is required. You can control the amount of sugar in it and make it as healthy and unprocessed as you want. The raw oats give you a great boost of minerals to start your day. . .<br /><br />What's not to love? All you need to do is mix all the ingredients together the night before, and in the morning grab it and a spoon on your way out the door.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Here's my basic recipe:</span><br /><br />- 1/2 cup quick oats<br />- 1/2 cup of organic cow's milk or unsweetened almond milk<br />- 1/2 Tbsp whole flax/chia seed (or ground would be fine!)<br />- 1 Tbsp blackstrap molasses, grade B maple syrup, or raw honey<br />- 1/8 cup dried fruit (usually raisins or chopped dates)<br /><br />I put it all in a glass jar, stir it once, screw on the lid, and let it soak overnight. 6-8 hours should be sufficient to give it the texture of cooked oatmeal.<br /><br />I plugged my usual combination (with almond milk, flaxseed, molasses, and dates) into the <a href="http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp" target="_blank">SparkRecipe recipe calculator</a>--which is my new favorite tool, by the way--and refrigerator oatmeal is an <strong>excellent</strong> source of vitamins B1, B5, B6, D, and E, and minerals Calcium, Copper, Folate, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorus, and Zinc. Not to mention it has 7 grams of protein, which is almost as much as an egg has. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Talk about a power breakfast!</span><br /><br />What are your favorite grab-and-go breakfasts?<br /><br />Shared at:<br /><a name='more'></a><a href="http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/2013/02/whatever-goes-wednesday-158.html" target="_blank">Someday Crafts: Whatever Goes Wednesday</a> // <a href="http://practicallyfunctional.net/2013/02/the-fun-in-functional-link-party-38" target="_blank">Practically Functional: The Fun in Functional</a> // <a href="http://thefrugalgirls.com/2013/02/chic-and-crafty-party-221.html" target="_blank">The Frugal Girls: Chic and Crafty Party</a> //<br /><br /><br /><br />Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-62502487104116719532013-02-15T16:03:00.000-06:002013-02-25T18:22:10.171-06:00Cleaning Stained Coffee Cups--the secret ingredient<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bDQrsFp93Dg/UR6tSkoYG_I/AAAAAAAAA0U/BVNXZjpY5oI/s1600/IMG_3434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bDQrsFp93Dg/UR6tSkoYG_I/AAAAAAAAA0U/BVNXZjpY5oI/s320/IMG_3434.JPG" width="320" /></a><br /><div>It's been two weeks since I last blogged here. Do you ever just find yourself going about your daily life, doing normal daily things, and asking, "What's the point?"&nbsp;</div><div><div><br /></div><div>As in, there are kids starving all over the world. Here I am, writing about how to clean stuff with vinegar.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I get this feeling often, and about all sorts of different things. I guess it's a good feeling? But instead of spurring me to action, it tends to just paralyze me.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not going to try to answer the questions that feeling poses, though. (At least, not today.)</div><div><br /></div><div>So about your coffee maker. Is it kind of dingy? Is the glass carafe permanently stained sepia? Yeah, it happens. I happen to know a really easy trick to make it look like new!</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Cleaning Coffee Stains with Vinegar</span></div><div><ol><li>Put a cup or two of vinegar into the reservoir of your coffee maker, and then fill it to its maximum capacity with water. Skip the coffee grounds this time. ;) Turn it on, and let this diluted vinegar run through its system.</li><li>After it's finished brewing, promptly turn the warming plate off. Lift the lid, being careful not to be scalded by the steam, and wipe off as much of the interior as you can reach with a damp rag. Remove the basket, and wipe it too. Wherever there was an oily, brown coffee residue will wipe clean, no scrubbing required!</li><li>Now, pour your steaming, hot vinegar solution out of the carafe and into any stained mugs you have laying around.</li><li>Don't burn yourself, and wipe out the inside and bottom of the glass carafe. It may be helpful to set the carafe on a pot holder or towel to make sure the glass doesn't shatter from being put onto a cold counter top. Let the carafe cool, then rinse.</li><li>Now, start dumping the vinegar out of your mugs, making sure to reserve some of the vinegar solution in another bowl or mug.</li><li>Dip your damp rag into the hot vinegar solution, and scrub your coffee stained mugs. These won't wipe out QUITE as easily as the carafe did, but a little scrubbing with hot vinegar should make them look almost as good as new!</li><li>Run a cycle of plain old water through your coffee maker to flush any vinegar residue, and you're good to go!</li></ol><div>It works for tea stains, too. This may just be the easiest cleaning project ever.&nbsp;</div></div><div><br /></div><div>What have you been up to lately?</div><div><br />Shared at:<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.niftythriftythings.com/2013/02/nifty-thrifty-sunday-96.html" target="_blank">Nifty Thrifty Sunday</a> //<a href="http://www.keepingitsimplecrafts.com/2013/02/motivate-me-monday-161.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:%20blogspot/fGMKF%20(Keeping%20it%20Simple)&amp;utm_content=Google%20Reader" target="_blank"> Keeping it Simple: Motivate Me Monday </a>// <a href="http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/02/clever-chicks-blog-hop-22.html" target="_blank">The Chicken Chick: Clever Chicks Blog Hop</a> //<a href="http://www.sumossweetstuff.com/2013/02/market-yourself-monday_17.html" target="_blank"> Sumo's Sweet Stuff: Market Yourself Monday</a> //<a href="http://www.ablossominglife.com/2013/02/frugal-crafty-home-blog-hop-11.html" target="_blank"> Frugal Crafty Blog Hop</a> // <a href="http://jembellish.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-round-tuit-141.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:%20CreatingMyWayToSuccess%20(Creating%20my%20way%20to%20Success)&amp;utm_content=Google%20Reader" target="_blank">Creating My Way to Success: A-Round-Tuit</a> // <a href="http://www.serendipityandspice.com/2013/02/manic-monday-linkyparty-218.html?utm_source=feedburner" target="_blank">Serendipity and Spice: Manic Monday</a> // <a href="http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2013/02/make-it-pretty-monday-week-37.html" target="_blank">The Dedicated House: Make It Pretty Monday</a> // <a href="http://ninthstreetnotions.com/2013/02/i-made-it-monday-49.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:" target="_blank">Ninth Street Notions: I Made It Monday</a> // <a href="http://www.abowlfulloflemons.net/2013/02/one-project-at-a-time-21913.html" target="_blank">Bowl Full of Lemons: One Project at a Time </a>// <a href="http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/2013/02/whatever-goes-wednesday-158.html" target="_blank">Someday Crafts: Whatever Goes Wednesday</a> //<a href="http://practicallyfunctional.net/2013/02/the-fun-in-functional-link-party-38" target="_blank"> Practically Functional : The Fun in Functional </a>// <a href="http://thefrugalgirls.com/2013/02/chic-and-crafty-party-221.html" target="_blank">The Frugal Girls: Chic and Crafty Party</a> //<a href="http://www.lizmarieblog.com/2013/02/clean-it-linky-party/" target="_blank"> Liz Marie: Clean It Link Party! </a>//</div><div><br /></div>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-8788815980306291322013-01-31T20:31:00.001-06:002013-02-21T18:15:19.265-06:00"Fixing" bleach spots...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-876Paocmx_Y/UQsmvbPsAzI/AAAAAAAAAxo/2ePikOBsfbE/s1600/IMG_3430.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-876Paocmx_Y/UQsmvbPsAzI/AAAAAAAAAxo/2ePikOBsfbE/s400/IMG_3430.JPG" width="246" /></a></div>So you're wearing your new favorite shirt, and pouring some bleach into the laundry machine. You're being verrrrry very careful. . .No drips. You wash your hands. You think you're fine.<br /><br />And then two hours later you look down and see the spots.<br /><br />ARGH!<br /><br />I was almost quite dismayed, but then my gaze chanced to fall upon a sharpie on my desk.<br /><br />Black shirt. . .Black sharpie. . .Hmmmm.<br /><br />It actually turned out okay. You can still see the where the spots were, as they're now a little too dark, but it's more wearable than &nbsp;when the spots were white.<br /><br />Since there are so many different colored sharpies out there, this idea might have a broader application....!<br /><br /><br />If you want to give this idea a try on some of your bleach-spotted clothing, here are a few mistakes of mine that you can learn from. . .<br /><br />1) Be prepared for the ink to go on darker than you think it will.<br /><br />2) Dab rather than swipe. Try your best to color <i>just </i>inside the spots and not on the surrounding fabric. Just kinda. . .<i>poke </i>at the spots.<br /><br />3) Oh yeah, and please put some paper underneath your working area. Because it will bleed through. Heh.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g5iG_CuHJW8/UQsoWO9wQlI/AAAAAAAAAyI/vS_gvsiLFSg/s1600/IMG_3432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g5iG_CuHJW8/UQsoWO9wQlI/AAAAAAAAAyI/vS_gvsiLFSg/s320/IMG_3432.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Yep. Those are sharpie stains you see on my desk. Oh well, no bigs.<br /><br />Disclaimer: Don't hold me responsible if you aren't satisfied with the results! I mean, it <i>won't </i>be perfect, and the shirt was already ruined anyway, right?<br /><br /><br />Do you have any great tricks for fixing bleach spotted clothing?<br /><br /><br />Shared at: <a href="http://thefrugalgirls.com/2013/02/chic-and-crafty-party-221.html" target="_blank">The Frugal Girls: Chic and Crafty Party</a><br /><br />Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-39659575082725656542013-01-24T21:21:00.000-06:002013-02-25T18:33:56.419-06:0010 Ways to Breathe Easier<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1a5pLq6vgR0/UQH42RI841I/AAAAAAAAAxI/-_61Bd8gk7U/s1600/IMG_2716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1a5pLq6vgR0/UQH42RI841I/AAAAAAAAAxI/-_61Bd8gk7U/s320/IMG_2716.JPG" width="257" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">Let's talk about air quality.&nbsp;</span><br /><br />Why? I mean, it's not like I'm writing from <a href="http://behindthewall.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/13/16486206-worst-smog-ever-hitting-beijing-environmentalists-say?lite">Beijing</a>, right?<br /><br />It's a bigger deal than you might think, especially in the winter when you spend more time inside. Did you know that the air <i>outside </i>of your house is probably cleaner than what's inside?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.main" target="_blank">This is actually true for most of the US</a>, despite what you may be thinking about smog. Think of all the stuff floating around inside your house: dust, fumes from cleaning products, paint, synthetic fragrances. . .maybe mold, pesticides, foam and insulation that continually emits chemical fumes. . .(see the <a href="http://www.epa.gov/iaq/ia-intro.html">EPA </a>for a more comprehensive list.)<br /><br />I bring this up, because you never know when air quality's going to become a problem for you. I lived 23 years on this planet with carefree, unaffected lungs. <i>Breathing problems? What are those?</i><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">And then last summer I choked.&nbsp;</span><br /><br />I didn't what was bothering me --still don't, actually, though it's subsided a lot. At the time, I thought it was the raging wildfire season we were experiencing in Colorado. Then they put out the wildfires, and I thought maybe the pesticides sprayed inside my apartment were the problem? (Pretty sure they gave me hives, anyway.) They ought to have dissipated by now, though, so maybe I'm just allergic to my apartment in general. It DOES develop dust quicker than anywhere else I've lived. Could there be mold?<br /><br />So, you see, indoor air quality problems can be tricky to pinpoint.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">What can a poor, frugal breather do??</span><br /><br /><i>First, if you know or suspect you're living with a severely toxic problem (toxic mold, for instance,) take action right away, whether this means educating yourself and hiring professionals to deal with it immediately, or making different living arrangements until you can get a handle on the situation.</i><br /><br />If your position isn't that dire, here are some simple ways to improve your indoor air quality.<br /><br /><br /><ol><li><b>Dust and vacuum, dust and vacuum.</b> (In that order, so you can vacuum up the dust you disturb.) Vacuum mattresses, upholstery, and curtains oftener than you think they need it. If your vacuum uses filters, follow the manufacturer recommendations for cleaning or replacing them.</li><li><b>Open your windows for 15-30 minutes a day </b>(<a href="http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.main" target="_blank">if air quality permits</a>.) YES! Even in the winter. This will do a world of good. Open all the doors and turn on all the fans, too, to speed up the ventilation process. (You may wish to turn off your heat while you're doing this, so you're not just blowing it out the windows.)</li><li>Speaking of ventilation, make sure all <b>fans and air filters</b> in your home are maintained or cleaned properly.</li><li><b>Invest in houseplants.</b> I have heard "6" tossed around as the magic number of houseplants to purify a home's air, but of course it has to depend on square footage, too.&nbsp;<a href="http://organicjar.com/2009/1917/" target="_blank">NASA suggests 15.</a>&nbsp;The Peace Lily is supposed to be particularly potent--even affecting mold spores!</li><li>If you buy a piece of furniture with<b> that nice "new" smell,</b> consider letting it ventilate outside for awhile if weather permits.</li><li>Consider <b>switching from store-bought </b>cleaning chemicals to homemade, natural alternatives.</li><li>If you DO keep chemicals around (cleaning, painting, pesticides, whatever,) <b>keep them in a closed off area</b>, or even the garage.</li><li>And if you DO use said chemicals, <b>use them in a well-ventilated area.</b></li><li>If you are irked by unknown allergies and congestion, <b>a HEPA air purifier may help,</b> especially in the bedroom. Make sure you read all the fine print and get the real deal and not just something that says "HEPA-type".</li><li><b>Essential oils (especially tea tree and eucalyptus) can also help. </b>Diffuse them by boiling a few drops in a pot of water or add them to vinegar to make a disinfecting room spray.</li></ol><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you notice the air quality in your house?&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Share your tips!</span></div><br />Shared at:<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><a href="http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/2013/01/its-hodgepodge-friday-20133.html" target="_blank">It's a Hodgepodge Life: Hodgepodge Friday </a>// <a href="http://thethriftinessmiss.blogspot.com/2013/01/weekend-wonders-24-with-features.html" target="_blank">The Thriftiness Miss: Weekend Wonders</a> //<a href="http://www.lizmarieblog.com/2013/02/clean-it-linky-party/" target="_blank"> Liz Marie: "Clean it!" Link Party</a> //Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-80624161163532408032013-01-22T21:22:00.001-06:002013-01-24T21:31:09.720-06:00Are you eating a balanced diet?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VAk9ybUChCk/UP9WGhpysjI/AAAAAAAAAwo/ZC6mfLYEoHI/s1600/grapefruit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VAk9ybUChCk/UP9WGhpysjI/AAAAAAAAAwo/ZC6mfLYEoHI/s320/grapefruit.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grapefruit ----100%DV Happy</td></tr></tbody></table><i>(Does winter make you crave citrus? <a href="http://pinterest.com/msobaskie/citrus-invasion/" target="_blank">Me too</a>.)</i><br /><br /><br />I've been googling around for a good online food diary/calculator to keep track of my vitamin and mineral intake.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Can you suggest one?</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Right now, I'm using<b> <a href="http://www.myfitnesspal.com/" target="_blank">My Fitness Pal</a>.&nbsp;</b><br /><br />Their food database is astoundingly comprehensive. * They have my favorite 7 grain Ezekial Bread on file, and the Kroger brand of maple brown sugar instant oatmeal. . .And here's some <i>really </i>good news for us home-cooking types: you can actually type in a recipe and have it calculate the nutritional information per serving.<br /><br />I appreciate the flexibility and variety of food recording available, but it isn't the best for nutritional tracking.<br /><br />I think it came pre-set to record Fats, Carbs, Sodium, Protein, or something like that. There are additional options that you can switch to in the Settings (Calcium, Fiber, Vitamin A, etc., you know), but it will only display 4 at a time. So to get a good, all-around picture of your nutrition for the day you have to do a bunch of clicking back and forth.<br /><br />My sister likes <a href="http://www.fitday.com/" target="_blank"><b>FitDay</b></a>, but it's definitely more of a weight loss tool. I find their food database highly restrictive, too. If you eat something that isn't in their list (like most of what I ate today, actually...) you have to enter all the nutritional data manually or just pick something that looks fairly similar.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Food Tracking has been a valuable exercise for me...</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>If it's not something you've ever done, I recommend trying it out.<br /><br />I'm not a health nut by any means. I mean, I eat a fairly balanced diet and don't skip meals. . .but it's not like I go around drinking carrot juice and nomming chia seeds. Still, I've been really surprised at what I've found out about my eating habits!<br /><br />For one thing, I need to eat more. (My family members are probably smacking their foreheads and saying Duh.)<br /><br />Since I don't eat a lot of meat or very fatty foods, my calorie count is often lower than it should be. (Potassium, too, weirdly enough.) By keeping track of what I eat in a handy website that does all the math, I can easily pull it up and observe, "Hmm, I'm short on calcium and protein today." And then go grab some yogurt.<br /><br />Informed choices, see?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Best part, you can use these websites for free.</span><br /><br /><br />So do you think much about what you eat? How do you keep track of your nutrition?<br /><br /><br /><i>*I've been using the Banana Test to rate these calorie counting websites. The first three I registered at, I instantly quit because I had eaten a banana that day. . .And when I tried to add it. . .Um. It wasn't found. (Bananas are a basic food, right??) Even if they might have had on file a Lean Cuisine Florentine Chicken Whosiwhatsit, and Sugar-Free Obscure Yogurt Flavor. No bananas. Yeah.</i><br /><em></em><br />Shared at:<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a href="http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/2013/01/whatever-goes-wednesday-144.html" target="_blank">Someday Crafts: Whatever Goes Wednesday</a> // <a href="http://www.stonegableblog.com/2013/01/tutorials-tips-and-tidbits-32-and-winner.html" target="_blank">Stone Gable: Tutorials and Tips</a> //<a href="http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/2013/01/its-hodgepodge-friday-20133.html" target="_blank"> It's a Hodgepodge Life: Hodgepodge Friday</a> //<br /><br /><br />Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-45461948391408831142013-01-19T15:55:00.003-06:002013-01-25T17:03:16.796-06:00Watercress Spread--green up your January<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1KUUCwtbjaI/UPsSRasWGfI/AAAAAAAAAwI/JGydIRYUiF4/s1600/watercress.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1KUUCwtbjaI/UPsSRasWGfI/AAAAAAAAAwI/JGydIRYUiF4/s320/watercress.JPG" width="256" /></a>I have been craving greens like nothing else lately. Spinach, kale, fresh salads, sugar snap peas. . .Mmmmm.<br /><br />I was grocery shopping the other day, loading my cart down with &nbsp;produce, and spied something that I thought was watercress. . .It turned out to be "upland" cress which is a little different. Bitter with more of a kick to it. But it still worked for what I wanted to do with it.<br /><br />Fresh, green-tasting, chivey whipped butter.<br /><br />Get ready for some serious yum.<br /><br />I'm not sure about the pedigree of this recipe, except for some reason I associate it with Anne of Green Gables. . .<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Watercress Spread</span><br /><br />- 1/4 c. butter, softened<br />- 4 oz. cream cheese<br />- 1 T dried parsley (or a quarter cup fresh)<br />- 1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped (they're really easy to grow on your windowsill!)<br />- 2 big handfuls of cress leaves. (If you can't find watercress, exactly, upland cress will do as well.)<br /><br />1) Put the cream cheese in the bottom of your blender, layer the greens on top (you can discard the stems of the cress, but I wasn't too obsessive about it.) Cut the butter into smaller chunks on top, and lightly press it into the blades.<br />2) Pulse. Pulse. Pulse. Pulse. I always have a hard time getting my blender to do what I want without tossing everything away from the blades, but this was pretty easy. Alternately pulse and use a spatula to scrape and press it back down again. It will be done when there are no more chunks of butter or large, intact leaves, and the mixture takes on a spring-green hue.<br />3) You may store for up to a week in a dish covered with plastic wrap or a cute little jar if you have one.<br /><br />However, you may just end up eating an entire loaf of bread slathered with this stuff as soon as it's done, and that will negate the need for storage.<br /><br />What should you do if you have leftover watercress? Add it to soups or salads<br /><br />Okay, admittedly this recipe strays from the frugal intent of this blog. More frugal adventures will be coming soon, possibly related to tracking nutrition, improving air quality, and doing mid-winter chores.<br /><br />Till then!<br /><br /><br />Shared at:<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.niftythriftythings.com/2013/01/nifty-thrifty-sunday-93.html" target="_blank">Nifty Thrifty Things: Nifty Thrifty Sunday </a>// <a href="http://www.sumossweetstuff.com/2013/01/market-yourself-monday_20.html" target="_blank">Sumo's Sweet Stuff: Market Yourself Monday</a> // <a href="http://www.ablossominglife.com/2013/01/frugal-crafty-home-blog-hop-7.html" target="_blank">A Blossoming Life: Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop</a> // <a href="http://www.sewcando.com/2013/01/craftastic-monday-link-party-time.html" target="_blank">Sew Can Do: Craftastic Monday</a> // <a href="http://www.thegirlcreative.com/2013/01/just-something-i-whipped-up-no-141.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:%20TheGirlCreative%20(The%20Girl%20Creative)&amp;utm_content=Google%20Reader" target="_blank">Project Inspire: Just Something I Whipped Up </a>// <a href="http://jembellish.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-round-tuit-137.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:%20CreatingMyWayToSuccess%20(Creating%20my%20way%20to%20Success)&amp;utm_content=Google%20Reader" target="_blank">Creating My Way to Success: A-Round-Tuit </a>// <a href="http://www.settingforfour.com/2013/01/its-party-time-1-20-2013-linky-party.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:" target="_blank">Setting For Four: It's Party Time </a>// <a href="http://www.stonegableblog.com/2013/01/on-menu-monday-week-of-jan-21-2013.html" target="_blank">StoneGable: On the Menu Monday</a> // <a href="http://www.keepingitsimplecrafts.com/2013/01/motivate-me-monday-157.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:%20blogspot/fGMKF%20(Keeping%20it%20Simple)&amp;utm_content=Google%20Reader" target="_blank">Keeping it Simple: Motivate Me Monday</a> // <a href="http://www.serendipityandspice.com/2013/01/manic-monday-linky-party-121.html" target="_blank">Serendipity and Spice: Manic Monday</a> // <a href="http://ninthstreetnotions.com/2013/01/i-made-it-monday-45.html" target="_blank">Ninth Street Notions: I Made It Monday</a> // <a href="http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2013/01/make-it-pretty-monday-week-33.html" target="_blank">The Dedicated House: Make It Pretty Monday</a> // <a href="http://www.abowlfulloflemons.net/2013/01/one-project-at-a-time-12213.html" target="_blank">A Bowl Full of Lemons: One Project at a Time</a> //<a href="http://www.chef-in-training.com/2013/01/tuesday-talent-show-68/" target="_blank"> Chef in Training: Tuesday Talent Show </a>// <a href="http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2013/01/take-look-tuesday_21.html" target="_blank">Sugar Bee Crafts: Take a Look Tuesday</a> //<a href="http://mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com/2013/01/totally-tasty-tuesdays_21.html" target="_blank"> Mandy's Recipe Box: Totally Tasty Tuesday</a> // <a href="http://www.flusterbuster.com/2013/01/flusters-creative-muster-party-4.html" target="_blank">Fluster Buster: Fluster Creative Muster</a> // <a href="http://practicallyfunctional.net/2013/01/the-fun-in-functional-link-party-34/" target="_blank">Practically Functional: The Fun in Functional</a> // <a href="http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/2013/01/whatever-goes-wednesday-144.html" target="_blank">Someday Crafts: Whatever Goes Wednesday</a> // <a href="http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/2013/01/its-hodgepodge-friday-20133.html" target="_blank">It's a Hodgepodge Life: Hodgepodge Friday</a> // <a href="http://www.weekendkitchencreations.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Weekend Kitchen &nbsp;Creations </a>//Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-42581103912467201412013-01-12T13:28:00.000-06:002013-01-12T13:28:31.565-06:00A Blogging Quandry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mydGr_uVfqA/UPDJZLr6E6I/AAAAAAAAAvo/5K0_HI-UCKY/s1600/moving.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mydGr_uVfqA/UPDJZLr6E6I/AAAAAAAAAvo/5K0_HI-UCKY/s320/moving.JPG" width="255" /></a></div>Well, folks, I'm moving to South Dakota.<br /><br />The idea is that I'll go back to school and get some sort of extremely practical degree to increase my earning potential. (What degree will it be? Good question. I'm open to suggestions.)<br /><br />This presents a bit of a problem from the blogging standpoint.<br /><br />For one thing, I'll probably no longer be a Poor Barista, I'll be a Poor Student. So the name "Finely Ground" and half of my blog's tagline will no longer make sense.<br /><br />Additionally, I won't be moving at <i>least </i>until May.<br /><br />So what am I supposed to blog about till them? It's too early to start in on the moving, packing, down-sizing, and move-out cleaning tips with any degree of fervor. . .But anything I buy or make between now and then, it will just have to be down-sized or hauled 800 miles.<br /><br />So I'm just sitting around over here in a state of paralysis.<br /><br />Blah.<br /><br />Have you ever experienced pre-life-change paralysis? What did you do about it?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-45865640076117097112013-01-04T19:57:00.000-06:002013-01-11T18:12:40.265-06:00A Smarter Way to Store Bacon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sV1_vll28xA/UOeHrIx18gI/AAAAAAAAAus/UMhtkIfLUXM/s1600/IMG_3424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sV1_vll28xA/UOeHrIx18gI/AAAAAAAAAus/UMhtkIfLUXM/s320/IMG_3424.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Just a quick little tip for you today. . .<br /><br />Have you ever had some bacon in your freezer, wanted to use a couple slices of it, tried to defrost it "just enough" to get those slices off, and:<br /><br />1) Froze your fingers off, and<br />2) Ripped your bacon to shreds in the process?<br /><br />Or is that just me?<br /><br />Or maybe, you just need a couple slices, but you end up using the whole package rather than re-freeze it?<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Here's a smarter way to freeze and store bacon. . .</span><br /><br /><ol><li>Before you stick your bacon in a freezer, take it out of its package. . .</li><li>Lay it flat, strip by strip, in a single layer on plastic wrap, rolling it over on itself as you go.</li><li>Tear off the plastic wrap and roll the end over. You'll have a delicious cylinder of bacon.</li><li>Put it in a freezer bag, squeeze all the air out, and seal.</li><li>Next time you need a couple slices of bacon, just unroll your cylinder and take as much as you need--since all the strips are separated from each other by a layer of plastic wrap, they won't be stuck together!</li></ol><div>I don't remember if I came up with this brilliant idea myself, or if I read it somewhere. Let me know if there's someone I should credit!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">What's your best time-saving tip in the kitchen?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div>Shared at:</div><div><br /><a name='more'></a><a href="http://www.thegingerbreadblog.com/2013/01/sweet-saturday-link-party.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:%20GingerbreadGirl%20(gingerbread%20girl)&amp;utm_content=Google%20Reader" target="_blank">The Gingerbread Blog: Sweet Saturday </a>// <a href="http://www.serendipityandspice.com/2013/01/manic-monday-linky-party-17.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:%20SerendipityAndSpice%20(Serendipity%20and%20Spice)&amp;utm_content=Google%20Reader" target="_blank">Serendipity and Spice: Manic Monday</a> // <a href="http://www.sumossweetstuff.com/2013/01/market-yourself-monday.html" target="_blank">Sumo's Sweet Stuff: Market Yourself Monday</a> // <a href="http://carriethishome.com/2013/01/frugal-crafty-home-blog-hop-5/" target="_blank">Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop</a> // <a href="http://www.keepingitsimplecrafts.com/2013/01/motivate-me-monday-155.html" target="_blank">Keeping it Simple: Motivate Me Monday</a> // <a href="http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/01/clever-chicks-blog-hop-16-hogwash-soaps.html" target="_blank">Clever Chicks Blog Hop</a> // <a href="http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/tutorials/tutorials-tips-link-party-91.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:%20thestoriesofa2z/Visw%20(Home%20Stories%20A%20to%20Z)&amp;utm_content=Google%20Reader" target="_blank">Home Stories A to Z: Tutorials and Tips Party </a>// <a href="http://www.flusterbuster.com/search/label/Fluster%20Muster%20Party" target="_blank">Fluster Buster: Fluster Muster Party</a> // <a href="http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2013/01/take-look-tuesday.html" target="_blank">Sugar Bee Crafts: Take A Look Tuesday</a> // <a href="http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/2013/01/whatever-goes-wednesday-142.html" target="_blank">Someday Crafts: Whatever Goes Wednesday</a> // <a href="http://practicallyfunctional.net/2013/01/the-fun-in-functional-link-party-32/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:%20PracticallyFunctional%20(Practically%20Functional)&amp;utm_content=Google%20Reader" target="_blank">Practically Functional: The Fun in Functional</a> // <a href="http://www.stonegableblog.com/2013/01/tutorial-tips-and-tidbits-30.html" target="_blank">Stone Gable: Tutorials and Tidbits </a>// <a href="http://thefrugalgirls.com/2013/01/chic-and-crafty-party-110.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:%20FrugalGirls%20(Frugal%20Girls!)&amp;utm_content=Google%20Reader" target="_blank">The Frugal Girls: Chic and Crafty Party</a> // <a href="http://www.lizmarieblog.com/2013/01/link-up-with-me-liz-marie-32/" target="_blank">Link Up With Me, Liz Marie</a> //<a href="http://www.ladybirdln.com/2013/01/weekend-show-off-party-11013.html" target="_blank"> Ladybird Ln: Weekend Show-Off Party</a> // <a href="http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/2013/01/its-hodgepodge-friday-20131.html" target="_blank">It's a Hodgepodge Life: Hodgepodge Friday </a>//<a href="http://too-much-time.com/2013/01/get-schooled-saturday-56.html?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=get-schooled-saturday-56" target="_blank"> Too Much Time On My Hands: Get Schooled Saturday</a> //</div>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3813309646361242547.post-34676016830013531002013-01-02T14:00:00.001-06:002013-01-02T15:03:00.164-06:00Sponsored Post: No nonsense Tights and Leggings<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><i>This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of <a href="http://app.socialspark.com/disclosure_clicks?oid=8972307" rel="nofollow">No nonsense</a>. All opinions are 100% mine.</i><br /><br />A couple weeks ago, I was given two free pairs of <a href="http://www.nononsense.com/shop.aspx" target="_blank">No nonsense</a> tights and leggings to review!<br /><br />Confession: I am NO fashionista, so this was a little daunting. I have been known to go into WalMart, think a floral printed t-shirt looks like a good idea, wear it a few times, and then realize I look like I'm wearing a nurse's scrubs. Most of my clothes are old, thrifted, and about as fashion-forward as. . .words fail me. When my mom buys clothes for me, they end up being more stylish than anything I ever pick out myself. No joke.<br /><br />So I was intrigued by this offer from No nonsense. If left to my own devices, I probably wouldn't own opaque tights, leggings, or even skinny jeans until the trend had long passed away.<br /><br />I received a pair of <a href="http://www.nononsense.com/Tights/Fashion-Tights/Rib-Control-Top-Tights.aspx?selCol=Espresso&amp;colI=1#.UONIoW9ZWHg">brown ribbed tights</a>, and a pair of <a href="http://www.nononsense.com/Leggings/Denim/Denim-Legging.aspx#.UONIZm9ZWHg">dark denim leggings</a>&nbsp;and was challenged to form outfits around them. Here's what I came up with.<br /><br /><div style="margin: 0 auto; width: 400px;"><div style="position: relative;"><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/no_nonsense_brown_ribbed_tights/set?.embedder=5694730&amp;.svc=copypaste&amp;id=67577326" target="_blank"><img alt="No Nonsense - brown ribbed tights" border="0" height="396" src="http://cfc.polyvoreimg.com/cgi/img-set/.sig/GfPWill66Hk3PitLd8VtPg/cid/67577326/id/ZLWkeVkfS4ysoooio25Eng/size/c400x396.jpg" title="No Nonsense - brown ribbed tights" width="400" /></a></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><small><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/no_nonsense_brown_ribbed_tights/set?.embedder=5694730&amp;.svc=copypaste&amp;id=67577326" target="_blank">No Nonsense - brown ribbed tights</a> by <a href="http://marissa-sobaskie.polyvore.com/?.embedder=5694730&amp;.svc=copypaste" target="_blank">marissa-sobaskie</a>&nbsp;</small></div><div style="margin: 0 auto; width: 400px;"><div style="padding-top: 16px;"><div style="clear: both; margin: 0em; padding: 0px;"><br /></div></div></div><div style="margin: 0 auto; width: 400px;"><div style="position: relative;"><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/no_nonsense_dark_denim_leggings/set?.embedder=5694730&amp;.svc=copypaste&amp;id=67579768" target="_blank"><img alt="No Nonsense - dark denim leggings" border="0" height="396" src="http://cfc.polyvoreimg.com/cgi/img-set/.sig/uSeYDScdBM4HZvybxjEqxA/cid/67579768/id/c4_Jsz1CTf6x7Q7djJ_e8w/size/c400x396.jpg" title="No Nonsense - dark denim leggings" width="400" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><small><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/no_nonsense_dark_denim_leggings/set?.embedder=5694730&amp;.svc=copypaste&amp;id=67579768" target="_blank">No Nonsense - dark denim leggings</a> by <a href="http://marissa-sobaskie.polyvore.com/?.embedder=5694730&amp;.svc=copypaste" target="_blank">marissa-sobaskie</a>&nbsp;</small></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div>Due to the antiquity of my wardrobe--and it's thrift storiness--most of the items pictured are merely <em>similar </em>to things I actually own. Exceptions: the tights and leggings, the boots, and the anthropologie shirt in the leggings outfit. I do own a Lucky bag similar to the one pictured. . .<br /><br />So despite my lack of fashion sense, No nonsense tights and leggings CAN work with what I've already got to update my look! Wow, huh?<br /><br />They're also actually really affordable. The tights retail for about $6.50 and the leggings for $15 on their website. Not going to break the bank!<br /><br />A note on quality: I was pretty impressed. The tights, especially, feel sturdier than I was expecting. And the leggings are surprisingly hard to shrink in the wash. (I really tried. They sent me a sample in the next size up due to inventory issues. My legs are unflatteringly twiggy at the best of times, not to mention when LEGGINGS look baggy on them. So I sent my pair through the washer and dryer on the highest heat setting. And they still didn't shrink much!)<br /><br />If you'd like to purchase some of your own,&nbsp;<a href="http://app.socialspark.com/clicks?lid=24965&amp;oid=8972307" rel="nofollow">No nonsense tights and leggings</a>&nbsp;(locations at the link) can be found at many food, drug, and mass retail stores.<br /><br />No nonsense has partnered with TV personality and fashion expert Jill Martin to make their brand more accessible and interactive. If you'd like to follow&nbsp;<a href="http://app.socialspark.com/clicks?lid=24967&amp;oid=8972307" rel="nofollow">No nonsense on Facebook</a>&nbsp;or <a href="https://twitter.com/BeNononsense">Twitter</a>, they maintain very active and friendly presences on both.<br /><br />To close, here's a cute little video I get to share with you.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/49024245" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"> </iframe></div><br /><br />I'm enjoying my No nonsense samples. Feel free to contact me with any questions!<br /><br /><em>The only compensation I have received for this post are the aforementioned tights and leggings.</em><br /><a href="http://app.socialspark.com/disclosure_clicks?oid=8972307" rel="nofollow"> <img alt="Visit Sponsor's Site" border="0" src="http://app.socialspark.com/views?oid=8972307" style="border: none;" /> </a></div>Marissa Deenhttps://plus.google.com/112840861547595154543noreply@blogger.com2